Moisture disposal system for air cooled air conditioning units



April 7,1942. J. M. RurrcH 2,273,939

MOI STURE DISPOSAL SYSTEM FOR AIR COOLED AIR CONDITIONIG UNITS Fi'led Nov. 13, 1939 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR Jl rr M 6924216}- wmi, ALL/fizz222m A TTORNEYS April 1, 1942.

. J. M. GRUITCH MOISTURE DISPOSAL SYSTEM FOR AIR COOLED AIR CONDITIONIGUNITS Filed Nov. 13, 1939 Z5 Sheets-Shet 2 IN VENTOR Jerry )7. Grail 2%.

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' A T T ORNE Y5 April 1942- J. M. GRUITCH 2,278,989

MOISTURE DISPOLAL SYSTEM FOR AIR COOLEII AIR CONDITIONIG UNITS FiledNov. 13, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 [N VEIV TOR W M, mum

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Patented Apr. 7, 1942 MOISTURE DISPOSAL SYSTEM FOR AIR COOLED AIRCONDITIONING UNITS Jerry M.

Gruitch, Dayton, Ohio, assignor to Chrysler Corporation, Detroit, Mich,a corpov ration of Delaware Application November 13, 1939, Serial No.304,018

1 Claim. (Cl. 62-14-9) The present invention relates to an improvementin air conditioning units of the type wherein a stream of outside air isused to condense refrigerant in a condenser coil, thereby eliminatingthe necessity for piping connections between the unit and the watersupply and drainage systems, so that the unit may be temporarily mountedin any portion of a building. In the use of portable units of thischaracter the lack of permanent water connections involves a problemoccasioned by the condensation of moisture from the air beingconditioned, there being no permanent drainage facilities provided forthe disposal of such condensed moisture. Many systems for disposing ofcondensed moisture have been suggested, including apparatus for blowinit away with the stream of air cooling the condenser. All such systemsmust, in order to be satisfactory, break up the condensed moisture intosuch fine droplets that the air stream will either evaporate themoisture or carry the droplets far enough away from the building so thatthey do not collect and run down the outside surface thereof. Thisproblem is acute since a slowly forming drop of water on an outsidesurface of a building collects rust, organic salts, and wind-borne dustwith the result that the outer surface of the building becomes streakedand stained in spots. Many systems have been devised whereby themoisture is supposed to be evaporated solely by the heated stream of airleaving the condenser compartment, but such systems are likely to failon days whenthe temperature is moderate but the relative humidity isvery high so that the ability of the heated air to absorb moisture isvery slight. Some systems have been devised whereby the moisture issupposed to be evaporated by causing the same to run ortrickle over thesurface of the condenser, but when it is appreciated that the usualcondensing temperature is much less than the boiling temperature ofWater and that the condensed moisture is usually at a temperature onlyslightly above the freezing temperature it will be appreciated that sucha system is not very effective. Some units have been created wherein themoisture is pumped through a nozzle in the form of fine droplets, thespray being directed against the surface of the condenser coils, butsuch units are unsatisfactory as a rule and expensive if successfulsince the pump for creating the spray is usually'expensive and becausethe spray must be so fine that all moisture will be evaporated or blownaway from the building so that the nozzle becomes clogged in a shorttime, or else means mustbe provided for collecting and respraying againand again the droplets which are too large to be evaporated or blownaway with the result that the water finally becomes a concentratedsolution of various salts bearing dust and rust particles so that thenozzle and/or the pump might become permanently clogged .or corroded.

The present invention contemplates overcoming all of the foregoingobstacles by providing means for Whipping the moisture into a stream offine spray droplets by light air pressure, such whipping beingaccomplished in anatmosphere heated above the outside temperature, andthe spray being blown against'a portion of the condenser coil located inan outgoing stream; of air whereby the particles may be evaporated iftoo large to be blown away from the building and may be dispersed ifsmall enough to be borne with the stream of air created by thecondenserblower. v

These objects of my invention are achieved in a preferred embodiment bythe mechanism disclosed in the accompanying drawings wherein likenumerals refer to like parts throughout.

In the drawings, Fig; l is a front elevation of a. portable airconditioning unit made in accordance with my invention and located inthe place of use;

Fig. 2 is aside elevation of the unit located in the place of use;

Fig; 3 is atop plan view of the unit with the cover and parts brokenaway for the purpose of showing details;

I Fig. 4 is a vertical section of the unit taken substantially alongline 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a vertical section of the unit taken atright angles to thesection of Fig. 4 and substantially along line 5-5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a partial vertical section showing details and takensubstantially along line 66 of Fig. 5; I

Fig. 7 is a partial vertical section taken substantially along line ofFig. 3;

Fig. 8 is a vertical section of Fig. 7 taken substantially along line8-8 of Fig. '7;

Fig. 9 is a partial vertical section showing details and takensubstantially along line 9-9 of Fig. 3; and,

Fig. 10 is a partial horizontal section taken substantiallyalong lineill-l0 of Fig. 2.

The type of unit to which the present invention is preferably appliedcomprises a window unit which may be mounted upon the window sill 2i)and which is provided with adjustable clamping means 2] .and'22 upon thetop surface thereof adapted to receive and grip the window sash 23 tohold the unit in position, there being also preferably supplied abracket24 fixed to the lower surface-and adapted to be abutted or fastenedagainst the outer surface of the window sill 20, and a brace 25 whichmay be fastened V to a portion of the building. The unit comprises anevaporator compartment 26 jutting into the room to be conditioned and acondenser compartment 2'! extending out of the room to be conditioned,the two compartments being divided by'an insulated wall 28. Since theunit is designed for universal-use itis preferably made narrow enough tofit a narrow window opening,

hence side wings 29 and 36 of different widths may be fastened to thesides of the unit for completely blocking the opening between the windowsill 2i! andthe window sash 23.

v The air conditioning mechanism is of a mechanical nature comprising amotor provided with an armature shaft 36 to which is keyed afixeddiameter pulley 31, by means of which a compressor 38 is driventhrough belt 39 and flywheel pulley 49 fastened to the crankshaft of thecompressor. The motor 35 and compressor 38 are'preferably adjustablyfixed to a supporting plateAl mounted upon coil springs G2 suitablyguided and retained in the condenser compartment as will be prese entlyexplained; The hot, compressed, gaseous refrigerant is discharged fromthe compressor into a discharge line which leads to the condenser coil46, the coil preferably comprising a plurality ofhorizontally disposedtubes havunit through the right end of the condenser and to blow air outof the condenser. compartment through the left end thereof, the twostreams of air beingdivided by a partition 5| formed in- 2,27s,ose v theblower wheel. A second baffle 10 may be provided inv order to form asmall plenum chamber into which the blower ejects the partiallyconditioned air, the inlet shroud 69, casing 66, and bafile l0preventing cooled air from striking the side walls of the unit so as notto have condensed moisture form thereon.

As described in the copending application of I Bernard W. Jewell, Ser.No. 303,969, filed conissued May 6, 1941, the mounting plate 4| uponcurrently herewith, and now' Patent No. 2,240,784,

which the motor and compressor are mounted is preferably provided withdownwardly depending legs 15 so shaped as to provide retaining supportsfor the coil springs 52 which support the mechanism when in use, andthebottom of the unit which is formed as a water tight pan 16 isprovided with inwardly struck projections 11 which form retaining lugsfor the lower ends of the springs 42'. Any moisture which might dripinto the bottom of the unit is retained in the pan 16 and eventuallyevaporated therefrom. A bolt 18 is passed through a hole drilled in theinner- ,mostextremity of each lug 11 and screwed into an axial, threadedopeningin the leg 15 so that tightening of the bolts 18 draws the legs15 against the lugs 11 in order that the unit may be supported withoutdamage thereto during shipment or handling. For this purpose as well asfor eliminating vibration during use the liquid pipe 55 and the suctionpipe 80 through which tegrally with the propeller shroud 52. Cooled andliquefied refrigerant is led from the condenser coil ifithrough a liquidpipe 55 passing through the wall 28 and into a dryer chamber 56containing hygroscopic material of anysuitable sort and from which acapillary tube expansion device 5'! leads to the evaporator coil 58wherein the refrigerant is expanded. The evaporator coil 58 preferablycomprises a plurality of horizontally disposed tubes 59 having-aplurality of vertically disposed metallic fins 60 therewith and forminga grid across the front of the unit, which grid may be covered by anysuitable form of ornamental grill 6!. preferably drawn through the leftend of the coil from the room by a multi-blade, cup-shaped anddehumidified before returning to the room.

A bafile 68 may be provided adjacent the outlet 6! so as todivide theincoming and outgoing air stream and an'inlet shroud 69 may be providedto confine the partially conditioned incoming air and so as to. causeall of it to enter the inlet of Theair to be conditioned is expandedrefrigerant is returned to the compressor from the coil 58 are providedwith return bends or loops so that movement of the unit may beaccommodated. When the unit is installed the bolts 18 may be removed orloosened so that the weight of the condensing unit is supported by thesprings 42.

In Fig. 4 it is apparent that the coil 58 is not as deep as-thecondenser coil 46 so that its bottom edge is elevated slightly above thebottom edge of the condenser coil, the bottom of the evaporator coil 58being supported in a con densed moisture collecting pan 8| provided with'adepressed central drain 82 connecting with an outlet tube 83 throughwhich moisture which drips from the evaporator coil may be led into atube 84 through a flexible joint 85. The tube 84 passes through the wall28 and is connected to a'disposal pan 86 through a second flexibleconnection 81. The lower portion of the propeller shroud 52 is mountedin the pan 86 and the tips of the blades of propeller 56 extend into thepan 86, there being sufiicient space between the surface of theshroudand the tips of the propeller plates to accommodate the tightening ofbolts '18 during shipment of the unit. The outer edge of the shroud 52is slightly spaced from the outer edge'of the pan86 so that condensedmoisture may fill the pan and flow onto the inner surface of thelowermost segment of the circular shroud The purpose of a circularshroud surrounding such a propeller as disclosed is not only. to reducenoises andto streamline the air flow, thus reducing losses due ,tofriction, but is also to prevent the formation of radially directed aircurrents, The air currents which would normally tend to flow radiallyfrom the blade tips are deflected forward in a spiral manner so thatwater which has accumulated in the lower segment of the shroud is forcedupward in the direction of rotation of the blower and along the surfaceof the shroud, eventually flying off the forward edge of the shroud in aseries of minute supposed that the capacity of the unit would bedroplets, and only as minute droplets since the low pressure of the airis insufficient to create large drops. The air in which this takes placehas been previously heated by travelling through the left side of thecondenser and across the heated surfaces of the compressor and the motorso that the agitation thereof and the temperature of the air tend toevaporate most of the moisture before it leaves the unit. However, somedroplets will strike the horizontal tubes 41 or the vertical fins 48 andwill be further evaporated by absorption of heat therefrom, and somewill be carried far away from the building by the outgoing air stream.Any moisture which might happen to trickle down the surface of thecondenser coil is retained in the bottom pan I6 and evaporatedtherefrom.

As the water is forced upward along the inner surface of the shroud 52most of it will be dissipated in the form of spray flying from theforward edge of the shroud as previously described. Some of the moisturetends to accumulate on the curved inlet edge of the shroud and mightdrain back into the bottom pan, for the purpose of preventing which Iprovide an inlet baffle 90 extending partially across the bottom of theshroud and a plurality of openings 9| in the inlet edge of the shroudthrough which moisture is drained back into the disposal pan 86. I mayalso provide an opening 92 in the lower end of the bafile I' so as topermit moisture to return to the pan 86 from between the come of thebaffle 90 and the bafiie 5|.

Features of the present disclosure which are more fully explained andclaimed in the aforementioned copending application of Bernard W.Jewell, now Patent No. 2,240,784, are as follows:

The driving of blower 65 is accomplished at a low speed through the useof a belt 95 driven by the flywheel pulley 40 on the compressor shaft,and a pulley 9B loosely mounted on the shaft 36 of motor 35, the pulleybeing so shaped as to extend through an opening 91 in the wall 28 whichis provided with a flexible seal 98. It is tobe noted that the blower 65is driven at low speed due to the pulley ratios and that the propeller50, which is directly connected to the motor shaft 36, is driven at highspeed, the low speed blower 65 producing sufiicient air volume withoutobjectionable noises and the high speed propeller 50 providingconsiderable agitation of the condensing compartment 21 so that room airmay be,

ejected in order to ventilate the room when desired, as shown in Fig.10. Since opening of the door I00 reduces the inward flow of air throughthe right end of condenser coil 46 it might be reduced; however, thesize of the door I00 is purposely small so that the volume of airtraversing the right end of coil 45 is not reduced more than Vapproximately fifty percent, and since the room air is colder than theoutside air the effect of the outgoing stream of air across the left endof coil 46 is increased to make up for the lessened volume of outsideair traversing the right side of the coil.

Having described a preferred embodiment of my invention it should beapparent to those skilled in the art that the same permits ofmodifications in arrangement and detail, which'modifications whencovered by-thefollowing claim is considered to be a part of myinvention.

I claim: 4

An air cooled air conditioning unit comprising air conditioning surfacesupon which moisture is condensed from the air being conditioned,collecting means in which to collect such condensed moisture, acondenser coil in which refrigerant is condensed by causing a stream ofair to traverse the same, a compressor in refrigerant flow relationshipwith said surfaces and ,said condenser coil, a motor connected to saidcompressor, a propeller for producing the condensercooling stream ofair, said propeller being positioned adjacent a portion of saidcondenser coil and being so arranged as to blow outward through saidportion and to draw air through another portion of said coil to beheated thereby and to be further heated by cooling said motor and saidcompressor, a circular shroud surrounding said propeller, a moisturedisposal pan beneath said propeller and in which said circular shroud ismounted with a segment thereof below the edge of the pan, said pan beingbelow said collecting means for the condensedmoisture, and a connectionbetween said collecting means and said disposal pan for drainingcondensed moisture into said pan, whereby condensed moisture iscollected on the inner surface of said segment, agitated by saidpropeller and blown upward along thereof, some of which are evaporatedin the heated air, and some of which are carried away in the outgoingair stream, and means associated with said shroud for returning to saidpan any drops of water forced back toward the in terior of said unit offthe inlet end of said shroud comprising a plurality of holes in theinlet end of said shroud, spaced above the portion thereof within saidpan in the direction of rotationof 1 said propeller whereby any drops ofwater which might otherwise fall back into the unit are trapped andreturned to said pan.

JERRY M. GRUI'I'CH.

